How to insert absolute and relative hyperlinks in a Microsoft Word document

If you want a hyperlink to always work, use appropriate absolute and relative hyperlinks in a Microsoft Word document.

Hyperlinks allow users to go elsewhere in the current Microsoft Word document, another document, or a web page. Inserting hyperlinks is a simple task, but problems can arise when inserting hyperlinks to external files. Word supports two types of hyperlinks: absolute and relative. Using the correct ones when linking to an external file is critical.

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In this tutorial, you will learn the difference between absolute and relative hyperlinks in Word so that you can use them correctly. I’m using Microsoft 365 on a Windows 10 64-bit system, but you can use earlier versions of Word.

The difference between absolute and relative in Word

If you’re unfamiliar with hyperlinks, there are terms that you might not be familiar with, so let’s have a quick look.

A hyperlink is specially formatted content that responds to a click by opening a file or a web page, or by moving the cursor to a different location in the same file. By default, Word underlines hyperlinks and changes the linked text to blue, but also matches the document’s theme colors. Hyperlinks in a Word document change color as soon as you click them to indicate that you have used them.

A absolute hyperlink contains the full address of the target file or website, e.g. B. https://techrepublic.com. Use this when linking to a web page or file that is outside of your domain.

A relative hyperlink contains an address relative to the current domain or file location. They only contain the name of the target page, preceded by the necessary folder path to reach the target file.

Now let’s go ahead and insert some hyperlinks into a Word document.

How to quickly insert hyperlinks in Word

Word is smart enough to recognize a URL or email address and respond by formatting the address as a hyperlink. Entering the address is the only task you have.

For example, in a Word document, type https://techrepublic.com and press Enter. Word immediately formats it as a hyperlink, as shown in Figure A. Clicking on the hyperlink will take you to TechRepublic’s home page. This is an absolute connection; It always takes you to the same place, unless that page doesn’t exist anymore.

Figure A

On the surface, hyperlinks display the full URL address or descriptive text. If you want to change the text of the hyperlink, right-click it and select Edit Hyperlink from the submenu that appears. In the dialog box that appears, change the text in the Text to display control to TechRepublic, as shown in Figure B.

Figure B

Figure C

If you want to link somewhere else in the current document, use the same interface to add a hyperlink to a heading or bookmark that’s in the same document. To demonstrate this behavior, you’ll need a Word document with heading text that you’ve formatted with one of the built-in headings, e.g. B. Headline 2. To do this, do the following:

1. First enter Heading Text, Section 2 and apply the Heading 2 style. This is where the hyperlink leads to.
2. Position your cursor where you want to add the hyperlink pointing to the Section Two heading – on another page or several pages away.
3. Enter the Section Two hyperlink text and right-click on it.
4. From the resulting submenu, select Link.
5. In the dialog box that appears, click Place in this document (Figure D).
6. Click section two in the list.
7. click OK.

Figure D

After you add the hyperlink, you can click it to go to the Section Two heading. This is a relative hyperlink. If you add or delete pages, the hyperlink will know where the Section 2 heading is, and you don’t have to update the hyperlink itself.

It’s easy to insert a relative hyperlink without knowing it. In this case, the link may not work correctly after you distribute the document.

How to Use Absolute Hyperlinks in All New Word Documents

One way to ensure that hyperlinks always find the right destination outside of your domain is to use absolute hyperlinks. In fact, you can even force Word to use absolute hyperlinks like this:

1. Click the File menu and choose Options.
2. In the left pane, click Advanced.
3. In the General section, click Web Options.
4. Click the Files tab.
5. Disable the Update links on save option (Figure E).
6. Click OK twice.

Figure E

Disabling this option protects absolute hyperlinks pointing to files on your local system. This option is an application-level option, so your choice affects all future Word documents. However, the truth is that this is an extreme setting that you will only use when not working as part of a larger organization. If not, you might want a more flexible choice.

How to use absolute hyperlinks in the current document

If you know you always want to use absolute hyperlinks in the future, setting the option at the application level is a sensible choice. If you use absolute hyperlinks in some documents and not in others, you can set a document-level option like this:

1. Click the File tab and then click About.
2. From the Properties drop-down list, select Extended Properties.
3. Click the Summary tab.
4. In the Hyperlinks Base control, enter the desired absolute path for all hyperlinks in this document (Figure F).
5. click OK.

Figure F

This property can be a bit confusing because you don’t absolutely enforce every hyperlink; They force each hyperlink to be absolute and use the same path. Knowing the difference between relative and absolute hyperlinks can help prevent errors when linking to documents outside your domain.